Freeing up messages space from iPhone, will my messages stay in iCloud?

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Level 1

6 points

Freeing up messages space from iPhone, will my messages stay in iCloud?

Hi everyone,

I ran into the issue of storage space, and have seen that I have over 30 GB of messages and media on my iPhone. I am subscribed to get iCloud storage, and have messages turned on in my iCloud settings. However, I am still concerned that my messages and saved photos might get deleted for good once I delete my "Top Conversations", and I have not yet found a specific answer for this on the internet.

So question is: Will my messages and saved photos get deleted if I remove "Top Conversations" from under General > iPhone Storage > Messages?

Thank you for reading my issue.

iPhone 11

Posted on Oct 18, 2022 1:23 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Demo

Level 10

166,525 points

Oct 18, 2022 1:52 PM in response to ambrustorok

You might want to take a look at this.

Use Messages in iCloud - Apple Support

If you follow the instructions regarding turning off syncing of iCloud messages, messages will then be included in your iCloud backups. However, backups are updated every time that you backup, and you might not want to restore a backup simply to retrieve a message deleted accidentally. You would be overwriting current data on your device when you restore a backup.

If you need to save messages for some reason, there are third party computer apps that will allow you to transfer text messages to your computer. This one works for Windows and MacOS.

https://www.wideanglesoftware.com/touchcopy/

You can always leave feedback for Apple concerning this issue.

Feedback - iCloud - Apple

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Answer 2

Demo

Level 10

166,525 points

Oct 18, 2022 1:32 PM in response to ambrustorok

If you are syncing Messages with iCloud, once you delete a message or a conversation, it is deleted everywhere. It is not stored in iCloud because iCloud is a syncing service, not off device storage.

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Answer 3

ambrustorok Author

Level 1

6 points

Oct 18, 2022 1:34 PM in response to Demo

Thank you. I am very disappointed to hear this, but thank you for your answer. Any chance for this to change in the future and iCloud to act as an actual backup? Can you recommend a safety backup service for messages until then?

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